Last Updated on July 19, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

If you wish to root the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, you have come to the right place. Gaining root access on this stylish phone from Sony is as easy as flashing two files on the phone. Once that is done, you will have full access to the root on your Xperia Z5 Compact phone. And not to mention that you will also have the SuperSU app to help you with managing root permissions on your phone.

If that sounds good to you and you wish to obtain root on your Z5 Compact, here’s how you can do that:

Root the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact

Files You Need

  1. The bootloader should be unlocked on your phone before you can do this tutorial. Locked bootloaders cannot be flashed with custom files hence no root.
  2. This tutorial has been written keeping the Windows version of Fastboot in mind. If you are on Mac or Linux, the steps might slightly vary.
  3. If you use a Windows computer to do this tutorial, please download and install the latest Sony USB drivers on your computer.
  4. This should flash a custom kernel in order to achieve root access on your phone.
  5. Download Custom Kernel to your computer. It will be flashed on your phone.
  6. Download Root Package to your computer.
  7. Download Fastboot to your computer. It should help you execute commands on your phone.

Rooting the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact

  1. First of all, extract files from all three archives you have downloaded to your computer. To do that, right-click on the archives one by one and select Extract here and that should do the extraction for you.
  2. Unlock the developer options menu on your phone by heading to Menu->Settings->About phone and tapping on Build number for 7-8 times and it should say you are a developer.
  3. Head to Menu->Settings->Developer options on your phone and turn on the USB debugging option.
  4. Plug in your phone to your computer using a compatible USB cable.
  5. Copy the extracted files of Fastboot, Custom Kernel, and Root Package into a single folder. That is how you will be able to use them with your phone.
  6. Open a command prompt window in that folder by holding down Shift on your keyboard and right-clicking anywhere on the screen and selecting Open command window here.
  7. Type in the following command into the command prompt window and hit Enter:
    adb reboot bootloader
  8. Your phone should reboot into the bootloader mode.
  9. Next up, type in the following command and press Enter:
    fastboot flash boot zombie_b2_32.0.A.5.32.img
  10. That should flash the boot image on your Xperia Z5 Compact phone.
  11. Now flash the system image on your phone using the following command:
    fastboot -S 256M flash system system-rooted.img
  12. Wait for it to flash the system image on your phone.
  13. When it’s done flashing the system image, reboot your phone using the following command:
    fastboot reboot
  14. Your phone should reboot.
  15. When your phone reboots, launch Google Play and download and install the SuperSU app on your phone.
  16. When the app’s installed, open it and let it update its binary files.
  17. When the binary files are updated, reboot your phone.
  18. You are now rooted!

Congrats! Your Sony Xperia Z5 Compact is now rooted and is running the SuperSU app to help you manage root permissions for various root-requiring apps on your phone.

Now that you are rooted, you can head to our how to install a custom recovery on the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact tutorial to flash a custom recovery on your phone.

You might also be interested in:

Have something to say? You can contribute to this tech article by leaving a comment below.